[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27298-27299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7105]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-53749; File No. SR-Amex-2006-34]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; American Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Minor Rule 
Violations and the Bunching of Odd-Lot Orders

May 2, 2006.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on April 12, 2006, the American Stock Exchange LLC (``Amex'' or 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, 
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The 
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the 
proposed rule change from interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend Amex Rule 590 to permit violations 
of the rule governing the bunching of odd-lot orders (Amex Rule 208) to 
be sanctioned under the Exchange's existing Minor Rule Violation Plan 
(``Plan''). The text of the proposed rule change is available on Amex's 
Web site at http://www.amex.com, at the principal office of Amex, and 
at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, Amex included statements 
concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it had received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. Amex has prepared summaries, set forth in Sections A, B, 
and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange has had a Plan since 1976 that provides a simplified 
procedure for the resolution of minor rule violations. Codified in Amex 
Rule 590, the Plan has three distinct sections: (1) Part 1 (``General 
Rule Violations''), which covers substantive matters that, nonetheless, 
are deemed ``minor'' by Amex; (2) Part 2 (``Floor Decorum''), which 
covers floor decorum and operational matters; and (3) Part 3 
(``Reporting Violations''), which covers the late submission of routine 
reports.
    Amex Rule 208, which governs the bunching of odd-lot orders, 
requires members to: (1) Obtain the prior approval of all interested 
customers before combining the orders given by several customers to buy 
or sell odd lots of the same stock into a round lot order; and (2) 
reject odd-lot orders that aggregate one or more round lots from a 
person trading for his own account, or accounts in which he has an 
interest or exercises discretion, unless the odd lots are consolidated 
into round lots.
    The Exchange proposes that violations of Amex Rule 208 be 
incorporated into Part 1 of the Plan. Under the Plan, an individual 
(either a member, approved person, or employee of a member or member 
organization) may be fined $500, and a member organization $1,000, for 
a first offense. For second offenses and subsequent offenses within a 
rolling 24-month period from the date of the first violation, 
individuals may be fined $1,000 and $2,500 respectively, and member 
organizations may be fined $2,500 and $5,000, respectively. No fines 
greater than $5,000 may be imposed under Amex Rule 590.
    The Exchange believes that inclusion of Amex Rule 208 within Part 1 
of Amex Rule 590 would enable prompt resolution of violations of the 
odd-lot bunching rule that do not rise to the level of a formal 
enforcement action but warrant more significant action than issuance of 
a Letter of Caution.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 6(b) of the Act,\3\ in general, and furthers the objectives of 
Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\4\ in particular, in that it is designed to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade; to foster cooperation 
and coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing, 
settling, processing information with respect to, and facilitating 
transactions in securities; to remove impediments to and perfect the 
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system; and, 
in general, to protect investors and the public interest.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change would 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received from Members, Participants, or Others

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

[[Page 27299]]

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Within 35 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may 
designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to 
be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding, or (ii) as to 
which Amex consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve such proposed rule change; or
    (B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-Amex-2006-34 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Nancy M. Morris, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, Station Place, 100 F 
Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-Amex-2006-34. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. 
To help the Commission process and review your comments more 
efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all 
comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, 
all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that 
are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating 
to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, 
other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance 
with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for inspection 
and copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room. Copies of such 
filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
principal office of Amex. All comments received will be posted without 
change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information 
from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to 
make publicly available. All submissions should refer to File Number 
SR-Amex-2006-34 and should be submitted on or before May 31, 2006.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\5\
Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary.
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    \5\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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[FR Doc. E6-7105 Filed 5-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P